Description
The newspapers of Hawaii form a unique role in the history of Hawaii and of American journalism. In a period of 165 years, from 1834, when American Protestant missionaries introduced the Hawaiian language Lama Hawaii (Hawaiian Luminary), to the present, newspapers have spanned the history of Hawaii from its status as an independent nation, a republic, and a U. S. territory, to its position as a state. By newspapers, I mean publications that have titles and mastheads, and appear serially, generally on newsprint, unbound, and without covers. Size and style have varied dramatically over two centuries from single sheets to 100 pages plus. Some papers were issued once or twice; others from their first appearance are still in print today. Some were conceived as newsletters or magazines, and then became newspapers. By reverse, others started as newspapers and changed their format. But all are recognizable by format and topical subject matter. Between 1834 and 2000, approximately 1,250 separately titled papers have appeared in print. This is an estimate because, for example, in the case of no holdings having been found for some papers, including Japanese language papers destroyed during World War II, I have had to rely upon secondary sources. The estimate includes a limited number of newsletters, those with historic or editorial significance selected from among the almost 5,000 on record. The peak year was 1983 with 154 titles. These remarkable numbers likely reflect the most papers per capita to be published in this period in any region in the world. Hawaii likely also represents the most diverse press in the world. The languages in which newspapers have been printed include the indigenous Hawaiian, plus English, Chinese, Filipino (in several dialects), Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Micronesian, Portuguese, Samoan, Tongan, and Vietnamese. There have also been papers in English produced by specific ethnic or cultural groups: Hispanic, Jewish, and African American. Many publications have been multilingual: for example, bilingual in Hawaiian and English; and trilingual in English, Filipino, and Japanese.

Excerpt
There are several ways to classify newspapers. In Shaping History: The Role of Newspapers in Hawaii (University of Hawaii Press, 1996), I placed newspapers within four major categories: establishment, opposition (or alternative), official, and independent. Establishment papers represent the mainstream or dominant power. Alternative or opposition publications voice anti-establishment or countervailing views. Official papers, the third type, are sponsored by government agencies. Independent journals, the rarest form, are unallied to any special interest. The present work calls for a different organization. There are three main sections. Section I organizes the newspapers alphabetically by the title's first noun: for example, Aha Elele, Ka (The Convention), or Facho, O (The Torch), or Honolulu Advertiser, The. There are two exceptions. One is those Hawaiian language papers commonly referred to by the article preceding the noun, as in Ka Leo O Ka Lahui (The Voice of the Nation), or Na Pahu Kane (Sounding Drums). The other, for the same reason, is the Filipino language papers, as in Ti Silaw (The Light) and Ang Bantay (The Guardian). Titles with numbers as their first word are entered as they would be spelled out: for example, under F, 50th [Fiftieth] State Bowler. To aid readers, a number of titles in Section I and Section II are cross-listed. On the second line is the main category into which the paper fits, a slash (/) mark, and the language or languages in which it is printed. There are 29 categories: African American, Alternative, Chinese, Church, Cultural, Establishment, Filipino, Government, Hawaiian, Hispanic, Independent, Indonesian, Japanese, Jewish, Korean, Labor, Micronesian, Military, Plantation, Portuguese, Prison, Samoan, Schools, Sports, Tongan, Tourist, Underground, Vietnamese, and Unclassified. As to languages, there are 11: Chinese, English, Filipino, Hawaiian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Samoan, Spanish (Hispanic), Tongan, and Vietnamese. The third and following lines give data on the place of publication, frequency and dates, publishers and editors, and abbreviations of sources that list the paper and locations where the paper may be seen in hard copy or on microfilm (mf). An "nhf" means no holdings have been found, "hina" indicates holding information is not available, and a question mark () signifies incomplete information. Lines in italics may follow the above with additional information, such as the paper's size, editorial content, readership, and circulation figures.